The new Law 7599/2025, enacted by Santiago Peña's government to promote renewable energy in Paraguay, will not break the monopoly of state-owned utility ANDE (National Electricity Administration), according to a technical analysis by the company's former president, engineer Luis Villordo. He claims the legislation keeps ANDE as both "judge and party" in the sector, discouraging independent private investments.
Villordo notes that the deregulation of the electricity sector was already mandated by Law 3009 in 2006, yet in two decades, it failed to produce even a single kilowatt-hour (kWh) of private energy in the country. According to him, the new law repeats past regulatory mistakes, maintaining structural barriers for private players to enter the market.
One of the most criticized provisions is the requirement that private investors transfer all grid reinforcement works to ANDE free of charge. Villordo calls this "legal appropriation" and unfair competition, as the state utility would profit from investments made by its rivals.
Another issue highlighted is the creation of the Large Consumer of Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (ERNC) category, limited to users with demand equal to or exceeding 30 MW. ANDE's former president considers this threshold excessive, suggesting a 2 MW floor would be enough to establish a true "free consumer" market.
The current model, according to the analysis, does not create a competitive market but rather a "Dominant Purchasing Agency" (ANDE itself) with no external oversight. The law would only effectively benefit generators selling power directly to the state utility through international tenders, with contracts guaranteed for 30 years.